Allentown police create cold case unit to help the 'voiceless'

Fresh off a year when nearly all of the city's homicides were cleared, Allentown has created a cold case unit, a team of two veteran detectives and a sergeant dedicated to solving the city's oldest cases.

Fresh off a year when nearly all of the city's homicides were cleared, Allentown has created a cold case unit, a team of two veteran detectives and a sergeant dedicated to solving the city's oldest cases.

On Nov. 18, 1981, Iva Tice was found in her home in the city's West End, stabbed more than 40 times with a large carving knife in what was described as one of the most horrible crimes the city had ever seen.

In the days and weeks following her death, investigators found a possible murder weapon and a possible motive. The district attorney at the time said he felt confident the case would be solved.

Then nothing. More than 33 years passed without anyone being charged in her murder.

"I have given up on it," said Kindred, now 87 and living in Kempton, Berks County. "I was very disappointed that more action wasn't taken at the time."

That's about to change. Fresh off a year when nearly all of the city's 10 homicides were cleared, Allentown has created its first cold case unit, a team of two veteran detectives and a sergeant dedicated to solving the crimes that got away.

"Last year we experienced fewer homicides than we have in many years and we enjoyed success in clearance rate," said Capt. Bill Lake, head of the criminal investigations division. "We felt that now is a good time to take a look back at some of our older unsolved cases."

The city has never had an official cold case unit, but detectives would periodically look into older cases when they had time away from their workload, Lake said.

Since nine of last year's 10 homicides were cleared quickly — most in less than a week — Chief Joel Fitzgerald Sr.. said he felt this was the perfect time to place resources into developing a cold case unit, modeling them after ones at his last two departments, Philadelphia and Missouri City, Texas.

"I'm happy to provide to the voiceless, people who are victims of these crimes, some semblance of assurance … that we will not rest until we can clear some of these homicides that happened in the past," Fitzgerald said.

Sgt. Ray Sannie and two veteran detectives, Erik Landis and Stephen Milkovits, will review older unsolved homicides and reevaluate missing person cases and death investigations that appear suspicious. Lake said the team was chosen because they are "seasoned, motivated" detectives who have experience solving homicides. Milkovits made his most recent homicide arrest last week.

Both detectives were wading through case files Wednesday, assessing what type of evidence exists in the older cases.

Milkovits placed older files in waterproof containers, stressing the importance of preserving the evidence that exists. Landis was reviewing one of the city's older unsolved homicides, the 1967 beating death of a gas station attendant.

Both said they are excited about the opportunity to give the city's older cases a fresh set of eyes.

Lake said the city has 80 unsolved homicides since 1980, including several between 2006 and 2008. There have been 320 homicides in Allentown since 1980.

Cold cases are not defined by age, Lake said, but rather ones that have had "no recent leads or developments or no significant information has come forward over a period of time."

"Time works two ways on these cases," Lake said. "Time can be our enemy in some instances, and time can also be our friend."

Lake said some witnesses may be in a different life situation than they were when a case was first being investigated and may be more willing to talk to police years later.

"As time passes, their attitude changes, their priorities change," he said. "Sometimes after a few years have passed, people are much more cooperative and it's as simple, in some cases, that they just need to be reminded that the case is still open."

As detectives comb the files, they will check to see if advanced scientific and DNA testing can be used, something that may not have been available when the case was first investigated, Lake said.

The cases will be publicized on the unit's Web page and through social media, which has already led to positive feedback, Lake said.

He stressed that a case featured on the website doesn't mean it's more important than any other, and eventually all cases being investigated will be on the site.

The site currently features four cases: The shooting deaths of Robert Edwards Sr. on Christmas 2006 and Raymond J. Medina on Sept. 26, 2001, the fatal stabbing and beating of life insurance salesman David Smith on Christmas 1981, and the brutal stabbing of Tice.

Kindred said he's happy that Allentown's cold case unit is taking a second look at his mother's case.

"It wasn't just a case in the past," Kindred said. "It was my mother. She was viciously attacked. She was stabbed in the chest over 40 times, I was told."

He said his mother married Herbert Tice, a widower and retired California utility executive, in 1970. He was 89 and hospitalized when Iva Tice was killed.

Police found an open window and some blood in their home, and some antique and diamond jewelry was missing. Years passed but no one was arrested.

"We went to the length of hiring one of these mental prognosticators," Kindred said. "It was just this out of this world thing as far as I was concerned, but we were just desperate."

Robert Edwards Jr., whose father died on Christmas eight years ago, was elated to hear that a cold case team was formed.

"I'm glad that my father's case is important enough to be looked at again," he said. "This would be some form of closure if they can find the person who did this."

Robert Edwards Sr. and several friends and relatives attended a holiday celebration at an aunt's home in the 800 block of North Fifth Street when everyone began to leave at about 2 a.m. on Christmas 2006.

Edwards drove south on Fifth Street, but someone opened fire while he was stopped at Washington Street, police said. Since his death, three detectives have been assigned to the case as the department went through transition, Edwards Jr. said.

"It's been really frustrating," he said.

Allentown's cold case unit is a first for the department, but detectives have had varied success in solving older homicides in the past, Lake said. One of those arrests is currently on trial in Lehigh County Court.

State police Troop M has a full-time cold case investigator, as does the Lehigh County district attorney's office. Bethlehem has detectives who routinely review some of the city's older unsolved homicides.

In Northampton County, District Attorney John Morganelli has launched grand jury investigations to look into older unsolved cases. His first grand jury investigation in 1999 led to convictions in two homicide cases, the second in 2012 investigated 30 cold cases and led to arrests in three of them. A third grand jury was launched last year.

Fitzgerald, Allentown's chief, said the cold case unit is a way of giving back to the community.

"This helps us in so many levels," he said. "But it also gives back to the public and gives them what they deserve and that's closure."